Memorial Day Weekend

We went to Jason's brother's house to pick up our new kayak and spend time with his family for Memorial Day weekend. Even though it wasn't completely sunny, we decided to float the river anyway and it turned out perfect. Not too cold and not too hot. The kids really had fun. Jason and I did as well once we figured out that Jason was counteracting everything I was doing in the front of the tandem kayak. We got a good laugh about that. We also went on a letter boxing hunt and found our first letter box. Trevor is pointing to some hieroglyphics on a rock behind us. It just looked like someone had used red paint but that's ok, it was still fun. Thanks, Jared and Jess, for letting us crash your house and for getting the kayak as far as your place for us!

En route to the cabin, we stopped for a night and to attend church with my parents. We were enjoying the nice Sunday afternoon when all of a sudden, a helicopter landed in my parent's backyard. It was so fun to watch. The helicopter was suppose to be on the lawn across from my parent's but that is ok. The boys enjoyed talking to the pilot and taking a look inside. Where was BriAnn during all the fun? She was sound asleep in the rocking chair. She was one tired little girl from all the excitement at Jared and Jess's.

Before we made it to my parent's house, we had a bit of an adventure. Jason had purchased "J" racks to transport the kayak in order to conserve on space. He wanted to be able to use both the roof rack and the kayak on the same trips. He was testing out his new rack in gusts of wind that I dare say reached about 75-100 miles an hour. We made it all the way to the top of the hill on Hwy 243 when the rack gave out and the kayak went for a ride. A rather ouchy ride as it is now pretty scuffed up from road rash. However, my prayers were answered because no one got hurt! That's all I was praying for as I watched the kayak rocking back and forth in the wind. As we were trying to revise the straps to put the kayak on the van lying flat with out the "J" racks, we had a couple of adventures, as well. Jason lost his hat in the wind. We went wind sailing for a bit while trying to get the kayak back on the roof. Kevin was so gracious to come to our rescue at a moments notice. He followed us a ways to make sure the kayak was secured again and on we went to my parents' home. So, even though the kayak isn't in pristine condition, it is functional, we got our money back for the failed racks and Jason has made minor improvements to the kayak for the next journey we make.

Sunday evening we headed to the cabin for another stretch of the journey. We had planned to stay for two nights but due to rain, we came home early. We still had fun at the cabin and were able to see more of Jason's family there. Somehow, I didn't get any pictures of this though.

When we got home, we had the reverse of last homecoming. Instead of neighbors complaining about dandelions in our front yard, we came home to a weedless yard and mowed lawn. Some one came to our home while we were away and did a secret service for us. What a fun surprise! Thank you to who ever you are!